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Time away

This past weekend my husband and I drove to Milwaukee for their annual Summerfest. The fest is right off of Lake Michigan and a huge outdoor area with food, music and great views of the city and lake. They have a range of music, from free shows to huge headliners like Florida Georgia Line, who we were lucky enough to see. While Milwaukee is about an hour and a half away from us and we were only going for the afternoon/night coordinating the weekend was a huge ordeal. Time away from our kids doesn’t happen often but it’s definitely important for our marriage. I really believe in family time but it’s easy to lose sight of marriage time with busy working lives and two young children.

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Daycare series – Summer camp

I remember the first time I received a note home from daycare about “summer camp.” At first I thought it was a cute idea, to change the schedule up a bit in the summer and have camp activities, then I saw the extra cost on top of tuition and got a bit weak. In addition to cost, it means extra clothes at daycare for your child to participate fully. After scrambling to find what I needed that first year, I’ve rounded up five essential items to purchase so you’re child can enjoy the activities and you can feel comfortable they are safe and protected outside!

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Fun Chicago spots for kids (and adults!)

Above photo taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Whether you live in the area or are just visiting, with the amount of things to do in the Windy City, choosing can be overwhelming. Factor in children and it gets even more complicated. As someone who has lived in the city for over 5 years and the surrounding suburbs the rest of my life, here are some of my favorite outdoor activities with kids.

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The quest for the perfect iced coffee

Like most Moms I run on coffee, hot, cold or lukewarm it doesn’t matter the kind or the time, give it to me. A few months ago I started to notice how much money I was spending on this habit. It seemed like I was always having to reload money on my app. I sat down and calculated  that I was spending close to $10 per day on coffee, which meant about $300 per month! Yikes! I decided that I would still treat myself to my afternoon coffee at my brewer of choice, however I was going to start bring my coffee to work in the morning. Baby steps, this is an addiction! 🙂 All was well until the weather started to get warmer and I wanted an iced coffee in the morning, thus began my quest for the perfect at home recipe!

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Tips and Tricks for the Magic Kingdom!

If you’ve been following along on Instagram you know my family and I were in Florida this past week. My husband and I are not ready for a full blown Disney trip, however my oldest has been talking about “the castle” aka Magic Kingdom a LOT lately (thank you Disney channel!) With Disney World being an hour and twenty minute drive away from where we were staying, we decided to spend one day at the Magic Kingdom. This seemed like a great compromise for all.

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Imagination

Imagination. We all have it right? Me? I’m not so sure. For as long as I can remember I have never understood “playing pretend” or “make believe.” As a child I had friends who wanted to play house or pretend to be princesses in far away lands and I can recall struggling through it. Being imaginative takes a lot of confidence as you are doing something that is not who you normally are. For me it left me uncomfortable.

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They call me Mom AKA…

If you would have asked me the definition of the word “Mother” before I had kids, or even 6 months ago, I would have given a very different answer than I would today. I’m also positive in 6 months my definition today wouldn’t be the same. Truth is, the hardest part of motherhood is that you’re constantly learning and things move so quickly.

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Binky fairy

With my oldest, I’ve successfully weaned her from boob and bottle, transitioned her to a big girl bed and potty trained. Nothing scares me more though than taking away her binky. She is very low maintenance and adapts to change better than most people I know (adults included!) but ever since she was little the binky has been a great source of comfort. Currently she only has her binky when she’s sleeping and in the car but thought of permanently taking it away makes me very nervous.

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Daycare series – room transitions

If you have children in daycare there’s nothing like walking in and finding out they will be transitioning to a new room. While on the one hand you are excited for your child and the new experiences they will have, on the other you know how much chaos ensues when you alter their routine. Each child is different and so is the room change – some don’t seem to impact them at all. We’ve had a mixture of the two and it’s varied even between my two girls.

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